1994 Reports

The Rise of the Liberal Democratic Party and the 1993 Elections

Lentini, Peter; McGrath, Troy

The comparatively strong showing in the 1993 parliamentary elections of the right-wing nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), headed by the outspoken iconoclast and rising media star Vladimir Zhirinovsky, has been the subject of much recent concern within Western diplomatic, political and even academic circles. Actually, the success of the LDPR and the lackluster performance of the reformist elements most supported in the West should not have been such a great surprise. That a significant portion of the dispirited and economically battered Russian electorate found something appealing in the unrealistic/utopian promises and xenophobic rationalizations of the LDPR, the stock in trade of many nationalist and populist movements, should have been no surprise at all. Moreover, the LDPR's history as one of Russia's longest standing political parties, its organizational capacities and previous campaign experience added to its success at the hustings.